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This summer, custom injection molder and contract manufacturer GW Plastics, Bethel, Vt., is installing several new multi-shot machines to support newly awarded ´óÏó´«Ã½ from Fortune 500 healthcare OEMs.

GW Plastics already operates a significant number of multi-shot presses in its global operations, but these new machines bring higher levels of automation. They will be the company’s first machines to have an assembly cell integreated directly into the press, allowing parts to be picked and placed by robots right into assembly and secondary operations

“We have significantly expanded our multi-shot ´óÏó´«Ã½ in the medical device field,” says Timothy Reis, v.p. of Healthcare Business Development. With the advent of its Silicones Div. in 2008, located in Roaylton, Vt., the company has been working to increase its multi-shot molding capabilities with silicones.

In the last two years, GW Plastics has expanded its operations in Bethel, Royalton (both its Thermoplastics and Silicones facilities); San Antonio, Texas;Tucson, Ariz.; and Dongguan, China. In addition, just last month, GW Plastics purchased Avenue Mould Solutions, a precision moldmaker and injection molder in Ireland, specializing in medical markets. The acquisition gives GW precision moldmaking capacity in North America, Asia, and Europe, and adds capabilities for high-cavitation mold building, up to 192 cavities, for medical-device, diagnostic, and pharmaceutical markets.